Tuesday, May 8 2018 13:36

ArmInfo. The leader of the "Make a  step" movement, the opposition member of the "Elk" faction, was  elected as the Prime Minister of Armenia by 59 votes. 

Nikol Pashinyan was born on June 1, 1975 in  the city of Ijevan. He graduated from local school No. 1 in 1991 and  entered the journalism department of the Philological Faculty of  Yerevan State University. Four years later, having a high level of  academic achievement, expelled from the university for political  activity. In parallel with his studies he was engaged in journalism.  From 1993 to 1994 - correspondent of the newspaper "Dprutyun"; from  1994 to 1997 - correspondent of the newspapers "Lragir", "Lragir-or"  and "Molorak"; from 1995 to 1997 - editor of the liner of the  "Em-es-e" of the newspaper "Molorak".

He was the coordinator of the election headquarters of Ashot Bleyan  in the presidential elections of 1998.  In 1998 he founded and became  the chief editor of the newspaper Oragir. In the summer of 1999, a  lawsuit was launched against Pashinyan, whose newspaper was accused  of publishing libelous material against the spouse of Armenian MP  Artashes Geghamyan and mentioning the nickname Norik Ayvazyan, a  professor at the Yerevan State University and a candidate for  parliament. The newspaper "Oragir" was fined 25 thousand USD, and the  bailiffs described the property of the publication. The court of  first instance recognized Nikol Pashinyan on three counts and  sentenced him to one year in prison. After that, the newspaper  "Oragir" was closed.

The Court of Appeal found Pashinyan guilty according to articlesfull:  official negligence, insulting a representative of the authority  during the performance of his official duties, and failure to execute  a court verdict. Pashinyan was eventually sentenced to a year of  imprisonment (under the first article), to compensation for damage in  the amount of 20 minimum wages (under the second article) and damages  in the same volume (under the third article). The Armenian Court of  Cassation upheld the verdict without change.

In the summer of 1999, Pashinyan became the editor-in-chief of the  newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak.  Remained in this post until March 2008,  after which the editor-in-chief became his wife - Anna Hakobyan.

In the 2007 parliamentary elections, Pashinyan was the first number  on the list of the Impeachment bloc, which demanded the resignation  of President Robert Kocharyan and Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan. As a  result, the bloc took the 12th place, gaining 1.29% of the vote (more  than 17 thousand voters). Nikol Pashinyan called the election results  falsified and demanded to conduct new elections.

In 2008, he was a member of the pre-election headquarters of the  presidential candidate Levon Ter- Petrosyan. After the brutal  suppression of the rallies on March 1-2, 2008 in Yerevan, Pashinyan  was put on the wanted list as one of the organizers of the riots. In  2009, Pashinyan surrendered to the authorities and was sentenced in  January 2010 to 7 years. Later, the court halved the term, and in May  2011 he was released on an amnesty in honor of the 20th anniversary  of Armenia's independence. In 2012 he was elected a deputy of the  National Assembly of Armenia according to the proportional electoral  system from the party bloc "Armenian National Congress". Since 2013 -  a member of the "Civil Contract". Since 2016 - a member of the party  "Elk". In 2017 he was elected a deputy of the National Assembly of  Armenia from the party "Elk".

In September 2017 he ran for the post of mayor of Yerevan and took  second place, gaining 21% of the vote.  In April 2018, he organized  protests against the election of Serzh Sargsyan as Prime Minister. On  April 22, 2018, Pashinyan and Sargsyan held talks, however, the newly  elected Prime Minister left the meeting after the opposition leader  stated that he was ready to discuss only the resignation of Sargsyan.  On the same day, during the procession in the center of Yerevan,  police detained Nikol Pashinyan. Later, on April 23, Nikol Pashinyan  was released. On the same day, Prime Minister Sargsyan resigned,  stating: "Nikol Pashinyan was right. I made a mistake. There are  several solutions to the situation, but I will not go to any of them.   That's not mine. I am leaving the post of the head of the country."

During the first ballot in the parliament, Pashinyan could not get a  majority vote because of the position of the ruling Republican Party.  On May 8, after the RPA's political decision, Pashinyan received the  required number of votes and became the Prime Minister of Armenia.

Pashinyan is married, has three daughters and a son.